


Frozen

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Episode: s01e19-20 The Siege of the North, Ficlet, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Shock, Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 07:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12954171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: The relief that floods him like the enraged Ocean Spirit when he finally finds Zuko is momentary, dissolves an instant later when he realizes that his nephew is apparently frozen on his knees, body racked with vigorous shakes.There are stories, Iroh knows, that begin with fleeing sieged cities with your loved ones on your back.Iroh and Zuko, in the North Pole.





	Frozen

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired by some themes that I wrote about in another fic of mine, _Adrift_ , which can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10583133), (though you certainly don't have to have read that one to understand this one), and also by an image from Virgil's _Aeneid_ that I inexplicably couldn't get out of my head.
> 
> Enjoy!

The relief that floods him like the enraged Ocean Spirit when he finally finds Zuko is momentary, dissolves an instant later when he realizes that his nephew is apparently frozen on his knees, body racked with vigorous shakes.

At first, Iroh assumes this is from the cold—Zuko’s hot blood is not suited to these arctic temperatures, especially when he has nowhere near the appropriate level of attire for the climate—and as he rushes over to the boy, he is already calculating the most effective way to warm him, where and how and in what order to hold him with his firebending hands. But when he approaches, he hears the boy muttering Zhao’s name and the word _dead_ and knows that the numbness in Zuko’s bones now has nothing to do with the frigid air. 

He kneels beside him, places a hand on his shoulder, and when his nephew doesn’t respond, shakes him gently. “Prince Zuko.”

Zuko doesn’t turn to look at him, doesn’t acknowledge him at all. “Zhao…”

“Zuko, you are alright. I am here. You are _safe._ ”

“…he’s… _dead_ …”

Iroh sighs. He’s seen this before, more times than he is comfortable admitting, with soldiers under his command. The first time one witnesses death is a moment of existential terror, of deep, deep panic, and many a man has momentarily lost himself to it. (Many a _man_ —but sixteen years is far too young. Despite everything that has happened to them both, Iroh had tried to keep this reality from Zuko despite everything raging around them, was determined that Zuko would not be forced to be a solider in this War…and he _hasn’t_ , thank Agni he still hasn’t, and Iroh will still do everything in his power to prevent it…but he had been naïve to think that he could keep the War from seeping into Zuko’s veins too.)

What Zuko needs now is time, to sit still and be embraced and reassured until he comes back to himself. But time is something that they do not have—they cannot sit and wait for the Water Tribesmen to find them, Fire Nation Royalty as they are, or for the Fire Nation to find them, now that they’ve each in their own ways marked themselves as traitors, or for the cold, which doesn’t care about national boundaries or loyalties, to consume them both. So Iroh removes his cloak and slings it around Zuko’s shaking shoulders, lifts his nephew onto his back and pulls the boy’s arms around his own neck as he rises. 

There are stories, he knows, that begin with fleeing sieged cities with your loved ones on your back, and were he in a more pensive mood, perhaps he would think of them, whisper them to Zuko and to himself to remind them both that they are both parts of a narrative larger than their sufferings or experiences, one which they cannot even begin to imagine yet. _This is how destiny works,_ he might say. _Our story is just beginning, dear nephew. If we keep open hearts, and open minds, we will discover where we are going, what our destiny is._

But now, he feels Zuko trembling against him, hears him continuing to mutter _Zhao_ , and such stories are no such comfort. It is all he can do to grit his teeth and run onward, praying to Agni that he can find a boat for them to flee on, wondering how on Earth he can keep his nephew safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Comments brighten my day!


End file.
